Sharp Shooting Bulldogs Down UC Irvine, 75-66

IRVINE, Calif. - Coming off of a dramatic overtime victory against Quinnipiac at the John J. Lee Amphitheater on Dec. 21, the Yale women's basketball had to carry its momentum for seven days and over 2,800 miles for a West Coast showdown at the University of California, Irvine. Four Bulldogs netted double figures, and sophomore Mady Gobrecht flirted with a triple-double as Yale rolled past the host Anteaters by a final score of 75-66.

With the win, the Bulldogs even their record at 5-5. UC Irvine fell to 3-9.

"Any road win is a good win", said Chris Gobrecht, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "We overcame the challenges that playing on the road entails and but forth a great team effort".

Gobrecht tallied eight points and set two new career highs with 13 rebounds and nine assists. Junior forward Melissa Colborne led Yale in scoring with 16 points, her 11th consecutive game scoring in double figures. Freshman Michelle Cashen had her best game as a Bulldog, netted 12 points and ripping down eight rebounds in 23 minutes action. Senior captain Jamie Van Horne netted 11 points for Yale, and sophomore guard Yoyo Greenfield was the fourth Bulldog to reach double figures with 10 points. Junior forward Haywood Wright, a native of Irvine and the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, notched eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in her homecoming game. Senior Ashley Easley and freshman Brianna Segerson each knocked down a three-pointer to tally three points apiece, and senior Kaitlyn Lillemoe and junior Ashley Carter rounded out the Yale scoring with two points each.

The Anteaters jumped out to a quick 4-3 lead to open the game, but Yale followed with a 9-0 run to push the score to 12-4. UC Irvine added a bucket before the first media timeout to run the score to 12-6, but the Bulldogs put together a 9-3 spurt in the next stretch of action, fueled by buckets from Cashen, Wright, Van Horne and Gobrecht, to run the score to 21-9 with 11:51 remaining in the half. After a Van Horne trey pushed the score to 24-9, the Anteaters broke through with a 9-0 run to close the gap to six points at 24-18 with 7:41 left in the period. The home team would narrow the gap to a little as one point in the first half, but Yale hung tough to enter the intermission with a two-point lead, 38-36.

Van Horne knocked down three three-point field goals in the half to lead Yale with nine points. Wright and Colborne each tallied six points in the frame, and Gobrecht led all players with seven first-half rebounds. Mary Has led UC Irvine with a half-best 10 points and six rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 15-for-31 (48.4%) from the floor, 6-for-11 (54.5%) from three-point range and hit both of their free throw attempts. The Anteaters shot 14-for-27 (51.9%) from the field, 1-for-4 (25%) from downtown and 7-for-10 (70%) from the charity stripe. Yale outrebounded UC Irvine 17-14, but the home team won the turnover battle by a 13-11 margin.

Just as they did in the first half, the Bulldogs came out running on all cylinders in the second stanza. Yale netted the first points of the period, led by four from Colborne, to open a 44-36 lead and induce a UC Irvine timeout with 17:56 remaining. The Anteaters failed to hit a shot from the floor until the 14:59 mark as Yale got buckets from six different players en route to building a 10-point lead, 54-44, with 11:25 remaining in the contest. UC Irvine endured another long stretch without a field goal- from 14:09 to 9:15 remaining, as the Bulldogs extended the lead to 15 points at 64-49 with 8:57 left in the game. The Anteaters would cut the lead to 10 points on two occasions, but got no closer until a basket with seven seconds remaining brought the score to its eventual final of 75-66.

Colborne scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half, while Cashen had eight points and six rebounds after the intermission. Gobrecht also turned in a solid second half with six points, six boards and six assists. For the half, the Bulldogs shot a sizzling 17-for-27 (63%) from the floor, 1-for-4 (25%) from beyond the arc and 2-for-4 (50%) from the free throw line. The Anteaters shot 10-for-38 (26.3%) from the field, 1-for-8 (12.5%) from downtown and 9-for-16 (56.3%) from the stripe.

UC Irvine's Mary Has led all players with 17 points. She also hauled in eight rebounds to lead the Anteaters.

The Bulldogs will close out 2008 on Tuesday, Dec. 30 with a non-conference game at UC Riverside. Yale kicks off 2009 with a four-game homestand against St. Bonaventure (Jan. 4), New Jersey Institute of Technology (Jan. 9), Bryant (Jan. 13) and the Ivy League opener against Brown (Jan. 16).